Payment delays anger KZN service providers
They say they haven't been paid for months.
According to Lindani Matiwane of the Service Providers Association, there has been no money allocation and no indication of how many learners are being fed, but they are scheduled to deliver on Monday.
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IOL News
01-06-2025
- IOL News
KwaZulu-Natal schools face food delivery problems due to non-payment of service providers
Service providers in the National School Nutrition Programme have warned that some KwaZulu-Natal schools will be without food for schools meals this week due to some service providers not being paid. Image: Pixabay Service providers contracted to feed KwaZulu-Natal schoolchildren have warned that some schools will not receive food deliveries on Monday, 2 June, due to non-payment of invoices by the provincial Department of Education. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers Association says many of its members have not been paid for April and earlier invoices despite submitting all necessary documentation, and the department has offered no formal communication or explanation for the delay. The issue of payments, either not being made or being late, have been a challenge since the start of the school year. Last month, the payment issues was also raised by the services providers. The KZN education department admitted that there had been some service providers who were not paid and said this was due to system errors. NSNP association spokesperson Thabang Mncwabe said the non-payment of some service providers "places over a million learners across the province at risk of going without food on Monday'. 'It not only undermines the constitutional rights of learners especially under Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution, but also sets a disheartening tone for Youth Month.' The association said the department is in breach of Section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act, which requires valid invoices to be paid within 30 days. 'We cannot allow financial mismanagement, poor planning, and a continued disregard for legal obligations to compromise the dignity, health, and education of South Africa's children,' Mncwabe said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading It called on the national Minister of Basic Education to urgently intervene and hold the provincial department accountable, while also demanding the immediate implementation of the Pretoria High Court ruling which the association affirms the rights of service providers to be paid on time. In response, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education admitted that some NSNP service providers were excluded from the most recent payment run, attributing it to technical problems related to the implementation of a new financial management system. 'The Department is affected following the implementation of the new Standard Charts of Accounts (SCOA V6), which includes a complete refreshing of the BAS technical environment,' it said. 'Whilst the Department captured all submitted invoices for the month of April and other previous months, a number of service providers were randomly omitted in the process,' it added. According to the department, the Provincial Treasury is investigating the cause of the omissions, and a special payment run has been scheduled for Tuesday, 3 June. Payments are expected to reflect by Friday, 6 June. MEC for Education Sipho Hlomuka appealed for understanding and urged schools to continue feeding learners where possible. 'We have requested that principals of schools whose service providers have been affected by this impasse humbly engage service providers to deliver food items to schools and also ensure that learners do not go hungry,' said Hlomuka. 'We call for patience and cooperation during this period of transition and frustration.' THE MERCURY
IOL News
07-05-2025
- IOL News
Urgent call for KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape school nutrition programme challenges to be addressed
A child has a spoon of food to his mouth File Picture: A child enjoys a good meal at a primary school. Picture: Independent Newspapers Archives Image: Independent Media Archives The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has welcomed the Department of Basic Education's (DBE) commitment to urgently address the school nutrition crisis affecting learners in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Since the beginning of the second term, several schools in the two provinces have been facing disruptions with the programme, an issue that has drawn serious concern from MPs. 'In many cases, these are the only meals that learners receive. They do not have food at home. So, now we are taking away that meal; learners cannot learn on an empty stomach,' said committee chairperson Joy Maimela during a committee meeting this week. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is a key intervention aimed at ensuring learners receive at least one nutritious meal a day while at school. The committee was being briefed by the DBE on school infrastructure planning and delivery when the the nutrition programme was raised, following recent media reports. Maimela said in a statement that she welcomed the commitment from Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube, who pledged to urgently engage her provincial counterparts. 'We are encouraged by this commitment. We will certainly monitor this space carefully,' she said. Gwarube also clarified that the programme's funding is ringfenced and cannot legally be diverted to other expenses, prompting the committee to demand answers from provinces experiencing shortfalls. In KZN, the provincial education department had stated in a previous announcement earlier this week that it had paid most suppliers in the NSNP and that others would be paid by Thursday, May 8. However the department has since said that payment would now be made on Friday, May 9. The department said some payments had been unsuccessful due to technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system by the National Treasury and this was being dealt with. Nkosinathi Ngcobo, head of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, stated, 'We acknowledge the concerns raised by our valued service providers and wish to assure them that the department is doing everything possible to resolve the technical glitches affecting payment processes. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕
eNCA
04-05-2025
- eNCA
Payment delays anger KZN service providers
DURBAN - National School Nutrition Programme service providers in KwaZulu-Natal are set to protest outside district offices on Monday. They say they haven't been paid for months. According to Lindani Matiwane of the Service Providers Association, there has been no money allocation and no indication of how many learners are being fed, but they are scheduled to deliver on Monday.
